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Shelly Palmer: Michael Phelps Proves No Expectation of Privacy Online: MediaBytes with Shelly Palmer February 6, 2009 Top
USA Swimming announced that it will ban Olympic Gold Medal winner Michael Phelps from competition for three months . Phelps also lost his endorsement deal with Kellogg's over photos of him smoking a bong. More proof that in a networked environment there is absolutely no expectation of privacy, especially if you are in the public eye. The "Performance Rights Act" has been introduced to the Senate and the House . The bill, which would force Radio stations to pay artists whose music is played on the radio, is being championed by the RIAA and fought by broadcasters. Currently, on terrestrial radio, the only person paid royalties for having their song on the radio is the songwriter, as opposed to satellite radio broadcasters, webcasters and cable networks who have to pay both the recording artist and the songwriter. comScore issued a report noting that US web surfers watched 14.3 billion viral videos in December . The number was up 13% over last year. comScore notes that a 150 million Americans watched 96 videos during December, and it should come as no surprise that most of them were on YouTube. News Corp. reported a $6.4 billion loss for the fourth quarter of 2008. The main cause of the fiscal decrease was its acquisition of the Wall Street Journal, which the company paid over $5 billion for. A bright point in the News Corp. financial report was that cable networks posted a 27% increase in operating income. Warner Music Group increased its net profit to $23 million for the quarter , up from $16 million this time last year. The sale of its stake in Front Line Management accounted for the increase. If Warner hadn't sold its portion of Front Line, the company would have posted a lose of 9 cents a share. Shelly Palmer is a consultant and the host of MediaBytes a daily show featuring news you can use about technology, media & entertainment. He is Managing Director of Advanced Media Ventures Group LLC and the author of Television Disrupted: The Transition from Network to Networked TV (2008, York House Press). Shelly is also President of the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, NY (the organization that bestows the coveted Emmy® Awards ). You can join the MediaBytes mailing list here . Shelly can be reached at shelly@palmer.net More on Michael Phelps
 
Christian Beckwith: Greening the Barrio, Part 6 Top
I'd always wanted to swim with dolphins. Our second day in town, we'd seen them from the deck of Charley's Rock, a San Carlos restaurant with a thatched roof and pale orange walls and an open patio on the second floor from which you could hit golf balls into the bay. We finished off fish tacos while pelicans dive-bombed the water. Suddenly, a different movement caught my attention. It was a dolphin, breaching. Jennie's voice broke with delight. "There they are!" she said. The dolphin's back and fin glittered in the sun. Another fin appeared, then a smaller one, moving smoothly through the water. You could swim with the dolphins here in San Carlos. You could snorkel with whale sharks, scuba dive with sea lions, fish for marlin, mountain bike the tumbling hills. You might even be able to wander out to those red ribbed walls I'd seen my first day in town and climb. Ordinarily, that's what our group of adventure athletes would have loved to do. Adventure athletes: men and women who engage in pursuits that contain an element of risk. Pursuits like ski mountaineering. Whitewater kayaking. Alpine climbing. Things where, if you screw up, you could die. Kina had skied big lines in the Tetons for years; on many of them, if you failed to make the right turn at the right time, you would fall for a thousand feet, pinballing between the rocky walls of the couloir until you ragdolled out the bottom. Khyber began running Class V rapids in his early teens; deadfall often lurked just below the river's surface, which could hold you under until you drowned. I climbed in the Tetons, in Alaska, in Scotland and Kyrgyzstan and Peru, where avalanches, rockfall and inclement weather were an inherent part of any ascent. We'd all lost friends doing what we loved to do, but every season we were back, staring over the tips of our skis at the narrowing funnel below us, finding the balance in the kayak just before the thirty-foot drop, swinging our ice tools into thin brittle ice that creaked in the twenty-below cold, the endorphins bubbling up right below the sternum. The sports we did were dangerous, and they were addictive. We'd built our careers and families and lives around such experiences, and we always sought out new ones that could produce them as well. I would have loved to kayak the serrated coast, to hike up to those cliffs on the hills around Guaymas and find out if they were climbable, or simply to dive into the sparkling sea and paddle as hard as I could for the dolphins. But Mark Mulligan was addressing the San Carlos Men's Club Thursday morning, so Kina and Mati and I drove to hear him speak instead. The San Carlos Men's Club met in a cafe across the street from the Marina Terra hotel. We ditched the car alongside the broken cobble and, guided by signs in English, walked upstairs to a low-ceilinged room on the second floor. Fifteen or twenty men, most of them in their sixties, gathered around the L of a table. Sunlight splashed in through the windows, illuminating their tans. I had expected all Americans, but four Mexicans sat at the table as well. We were directed to the president of the club, Mel Klein. "Why's Mark here to talk to you?" I asked. "Every other week our group gets together," Mel said. He wore a green golfer's hat and a Hawaiian shirt; like most of the men in the room, he was in his late sixties. "We try to bring people we think are interesting to talk. Mark plays a lot of music around here, and he's been mentioning Castaway Kids in his shows, so I asked him to come to tell us more about it." Mark was leaning over in conversation with a bald septuagenarian who wore large, rose-tinted glasses and looked like a retired B-Movie producer from Palm Springs. Mark was five-ten, with close-cropped gray hair and a healthy tan. He was fifty and rested; he also looked as if he would have been more comfortable in a Hawaiian shirt than in the short-sleeve button up he wore. Part of the shirt poked up from his belt, untucked and askance, as he talked to the producer. He slowly made his way to the front of the room, introducing himself as he moved. Then, he began speaking about his group. The roots of Castaway Kids had started with Mark's early years in the barrio, when he had been a missionary teacher, and solidified with his marriage of seven years to his wife, Adela, a Fatima local. When Adela died in a car accident, she left him two sons, Marcos, seven, and Luis, three. "Castaway Kids provides money, food, and care to the children of Guaymas," Mark said. He had the easy, conversational tone of a singer who was comfortable in front of an audience. I wondered how much the organization helped alleviate the grief of his wife's death. "Our goal is for these children and their families to become self-supporting so that they can assist other families like them." Mark continued to describe the group's efforts. A month earlier, they had orchestrated the purchase of a home outside the barrio for a family whose shack had been swept away in a flash flood. At Christmas, they had taken some of the barrio children and thrown them a Christmas party, complete with presents. In 2007, Mark had organized the building of a park in Fatima for the barrio children; Adela's family still lived in a home across the street. The park consisted of a triangle-shaped slab of concrete, a couple of swingsets, painted in bright blue and yellow, a monkey bar set and a couple of barrels welded together for the kids to crawl through. At the pointy end of the triangle stood a rectangular memorial. It was for Mark's wife; the barrio residents had erected it for him without his knowledge, and unveiled it at the opening ceremony. I looked around. The retirees of the San Carlos Men's Club listened attentively as he spoke. Next to me sat a tall, friendly American who looked to be in his early sixties. What did he think of Mark and his Castaway Kids? "They're doing good work," he said. And why was he here at the meeting? He smiled gently. "I want to give something back." I thought about Terry Challis, the woman from Arizona we'd met our first day in the barrio. She had impressed me with her pragmatic understanding of the children's needs. She didn't seek to put anyone through college; the scholarship fund she had helped to start simply covered the costs of secondary school for the children who might otherwise not go. David Keilholtz, the husband of our translator, Rosa, had similar, modest goals. He had assisted in the construction of the park across from Adela's family's home, and he'd helped families in the barrio to build small cement-block houses where before they'd had nothing. In addition to the eighteen-hole golf course where Mike Chase's house was located, San Carlos featured tennis courts, bowling lanes and two marinas. Above the harbor, houses with a Mediterranean accent ringed the hill in tight, hierarchical rows. There were restaurants featuring seafood, Sonoran beef, Mexican dishes and American cuisine. I could almost imagine the life of the retiree here: snorkeling among the parrot fish, sailing the desert coast, fishing for yellowfin tuna, the hills tumbling, tumbling, tumbling toward the sea. You could relax in comfort and never even notice the barrio. Which is what I'd been sure most of the retirees did. "If we get some downtime, I want to go kite surfing," Mike had said the day before. He'd been talking about kite surfing in Guaymas since he'd first told me about the project, months earlier; the bay was expansive, and the winds came rushing down the hills across the surface of the water. "You should try it," Mike said. "You'd like it." He was probably right. I'd probably like the kayaking, too: for years, I'd heard stories about NOLS courses that came down to the Gulf of California and explored its mysteries by boat. In fact, there seemed almost limitless things we could have been doing that would have been a blast. But such things were secondary to getting the panels on the school's roof. For a moment, I thought I understood something that had been in the back of my mind since the trip had begun. Mark, Terry, David and the other volunteers could have been golfing, fishing, sailing, doing whatever you do when you're a gringo retiree in Mexico. And they probably did do them, most of the time. But they also had their projects, and they kept chipping away at them, bit by bit. When we'd arrived in San Carlos I'd had a certain skepticism about what we'd be able to do with The Guaymas Project. Any solar power we brought to the school would be minimal, if we could get permission to tie it to the grid at all, and I wasn't sure our lessons would have much of an effect on the children, either. Plus, we'd be in and out of there in a week--hardly the amount of time you need to make any real impact. Terry had been handing out scholarship applications at the Fatima school the day we met. She had given me one. A line in particular had jumped out at me. "We can change the world," it read, "one child at a time." I'd thought it horribly naive at the time. Now I wasn't sure. On the way back to town, we drove in silence. I looked for the dolphins as we passed the bay, but they were nowhere to be seen. More on Green Energy
 
The Sportsman's Daily: Madoff Victim Fred Wilpon Reported to be Hitting Up Mets Players for Loans to Bankroll Free Agent Signings Top
FLUSHING, NY (Sportsman's Daily Wire Service) The Mets said Thursday that despite the prominence of the principal owner, Fred Wilpon and his businesses, on a list of the victims of Bernard L. Madoff's suspected $50 billion Ponzi scheme, the team remains financially sound. While the Mets have not been acting like a team in financial crisis with several high-priced off-season signings, there are reports that the Wilpons - Fred and his son Jeff - have been "putting the arm" on several big ticket players for short term loans to cover their (undisclosed) losses and pay their free agents. "I was at the mall with my family when I got a panicked call on my cell from Jeff (Wilpon)," said one of the players the Wilpons allegedly hit on. "I knew the Wilpons lost money in the Madoff scheme, but we all thought everything's ok, they've got diverse holdings. At first I wasn't sure I heard him correctly. I go 'Jeff, are you asking me for money?' He said it's just a short-term thing, they're having liquidity issues. I told him, hey, if you're having cash flow problems, why the hell did you just sign (Oliver) Perez to a three year $36 million deal? The line when silent for about five seconds and then it hits me - 'shit, what happens if come June they can't meet payroll?' As soon as I hung up I called my agent - I gotta get out of here." Several former Mets received similar calls from either Jeff Wilpon or a member of the Mets organization. "A couple of days ago I'm leaving a function marking the 40th anniversary of the '69 Mets and I got a call," said former Mets slugger Art Shamsky. "I was surprised, to say the least. Why me and not, oh, I don't know, someone like J.J. Putz, who's pulling in $5.3 per. I don't have that kind of money." Shamsky's deranged ex, who recently hounded Shamksy on the streets of Manhattan loudly accusing him of cheating on her with both men and women, chalked it up to an honest mistake. "A putz is a putz is a putz. I can see how the Wilpons got confused. But let's be clear: Arthur Shamsky is and will always be a putz. That's p-u-t-z. Putz." When asked about these reports, Jeff Wilpon dismissed them, insisting the organization is on sound financial footing. "Just because you guys don't know how much money we have, doesn't mean we don't have money. We have other money from outside of this, tons of money. Loads. Piles. If you stacked up all the money we have in one dollar bills, it would reach two miles into space." Wilpon paused to let the visual sink in. "Unfortunately most of that money is tied up in investments. Our current cash reserves, if laid out end to end, would probably only reach the 48th floor of the Chrysler Building. But that's dollar bills; if they were gold bars - or chocolate bars in gold wrappers -- it would reach much, much higher." When asked for his thoughts and insights into the Mets' financial status, former Met and current market whiz Lenny Dykstra was less than sanguine. "If they were a stock they'd be de-listed," he scoffed. "I haven't seen their balance sheet, but it can't be good - you're looking at a team with the second highest payroll in baseball. I don't know how they make it to the All-Star break without getting some of that TARP money." A former SEC official thinks he sees a familiar pattern. "Borrowing money from players under contract to pay for free agents -- which sounds like what they're doing -- does appear to have a subtle Ponzi-like element to it. Not that my background with the SEC gives me any special insight into such things. But I could see how one might come to that conclusion." For more stories like this, go to www.sportsmansdaily.com .
 
McCain Campaign Pueblo Manager Arrested On Molestation Charges Top
Police arrested the former manager of Sen. John McCain's Pueblo presidential campaign office Wednesday on charges he sexually assaulted a 5-year-old boy left in his care so the boy's mother could attend a rally for McCain's running mate, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, The Denver Post's Howard Pankratz reported Thursday afternoon. It's the second arrest on charges of sexual assault on a child by a person in position of trust in a week for Jeffrey Claude Bartleson, 52, who has faced similar allegations at least five times since 1982 without being convicted of a crime, according to the Pueblo Chieftain's Nick Bonham. More on John McCain
 
Olbermann Special Comment: "It May Be Time For Mr. Cheney To Leave The Country" (VIDEO) Top
MSNBC's Keith Olbermann did a ten-minute Special Comment Thursday night based on former Vice President Dick Cheney's warning that a "catastrophic" terrorist attack is on its way. He calls Cheney's defense of torture and other extreme measures as necessary to keep Americans safe as a "perverse example of wishful nightmare thinking ... You, Mr. Cheney, you terrified more Americans than did any terrorist in the last seven years." Watch: More on Keith Olbermann
 
Bears Not Raising Ticket Prices For 2009 Season Top
In a weak economy, the Bears have decided to freeze ticket prices for 2009. But team president Ted Phillips promised Thursday that the freeze wouldn't affect football operations or the Bears' ability to pursue free agents. This will be the first time since after the 2000 season that the Bears haven't hiked ticket prices in at least some form. More on Sports
 
RNC Kills Ambitious "Renewal" Think Tank Top
The Republican National Committee, under new chairman Michael Steele, has quietly killed an ambitious plan to create the Center for Republican Renewal, a big in-house RNC think tank intended to develop new policies and ideas in order to take the party in a new direction, a Republican official who was directly informed of the decision by RNC staff tells me. The Center's goal was to help the GOP reclaim the mantle of the "party of ideas," as RNC officials glowingly announced in December, and the decision to scrap it has some Republicans, including allies of former RNC chair Mike Duncan, its creator, wondering how precisely the RNC intends to generate the new ideas necessary to change course and renew itself.
 
Baratunde Thurston: 4 Million People Find Video Evidence of Child Abuse Hilarious Top
Like television, YouTube can be a force for good, for evil or just plain stupidity. The following video was shot by a theoretically loving father as his young son suffers the effects of dental medication post-visit. It's like America's Funniest Home Videos, only this version makes you feel sad inside. Here's the clip: That video, by the way, is a finalist for VideoSurf.com's Viral Video of the Week . Follow the link, cast your vote. The Dems own Nancy Pelosi made the finals along with a freakishly talented Mexican wrestler. Trust me. They belong together. More on YouTube
 
Obama Naming Team Of Outside Economic Advisers Top
WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama is bringing in a team of outside advisers to help steer the economy out of a tailspin, while ridiculing Republicans for clinging to a "losing formula" as the nation plunged to the crisis point. The president was to name the economic team members Friday as the nation dealt with more bad news in the unemployment report for January. Employers slashed payrolls by 598,000, the most since the end of 1974, catapulting the unemployment rate to 7.6 percent. The rate is the highest since September 1992. Obama planned to use the Economic Recovery Advisory Board announcement as a way to address the millions of out-of-work Americans. On Thursday, Obama implored House Democrats to reject delaying tactics and political gamesmanship that often stymies legislation and keep a promise to voters who booted Republicans from power. "They didn't vote for the status quo; they sent us here to bring change. We owe it to them to deliver," the Democratic president said, eliciting cheers and applause from the Democratic rank-and-file gathered for a three-day retreat in Williamsburg, Va. In a feisty speech that sounded like a campaign rally address, Obama took a sharper tone than he has in recent weeks and aggressively challenged Republicans, who voted as a block against the plan in the House and are demanding massive changes to the measure in the Senate. "We are not going to get relief by turning back to the very same policies that for the last eight years doubled the national debt and threw our economy into a tailspin," Obama said _ an implicit criticism of the GOP that was in power during that period. "We can't embrace the losing formula that says only tax cuts will work for every problem we face," he said. Obama has already tapped Paul Volcker, a former Federal Reserve chairman and a top Obama adviser, as the leader of the high-profile panel of advisers. Members will include former Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman William Donaldson, TIAA-CREF President-CEO Roger Ferguson and Harvard University professor Martin Feldstein, who wrote a Wall Street Journal op-ed piece last year titled "John McCain Has a Tax Plan To Create Jobs." Obama friend and campaign finance chairwoman Penny Pritzker also is on the board, as is Caterpillar Inc. Chairman-CEO Jim Owens and General Electric Co. CEO Jeffrey R. Immelt. Two labor officials _ Anna Burger of Service Employees International Union and Richard Trumka of the AFL-CIO _ also were named to the 15-member board designed to offer Obama advice as he seeks a way to weather the crisis and rebuild the economy. To that end, Obama expressed frustration with his economic stimulus legislation being debated in the Senate. Lawmakers on Thursday inched toward a compromise package of spending and tax cuts that could cost well over $900 billion. "We lost half a million jobs each month for two consecutive months," Obama told reporters traveling with him to Williamsburg. "Things could continue to decline. We'll know the number tomorrow. Every economist, even those who may quibble with the details of the makeup in a package, will agree that if you've got a trillion dollars in lost demand this year, and a trillion dollars in lost demand next year, then you've got to have a big enough recovery package to actually make up for those lost jobs and lost demand." The Labor Department on Thursday reported that the number of newly unemployed workers seeking jobless benefits hit the highest level since 1982. More on Recession
 
Bill Ayers Calls Attempt To Have Him Fired 'Absurd' Top
Calling a state senator's push to get him axed from his public university job "frivolous," William Ayers on Thursday said lawmakers have more important things to do than to go after him. Ayers, a former member of the radical Weather Underground and a topic of heated discussion during the 2008 presidential and primary campaigns, was responding to a Downstate Republican's proposal to forbid a public university from employing someone who has "committed a violent act" against the United States or Illinois.
 
Obama Puts Greg Craig In Charge Of Vetting After Scandals Top
After decades moving through the revolving door between the private sector and government service, Gregory B. Craig has landed again at the White House, serving as counsel to a young administration in need of a steadying hand. Less than three weeks into his tenure, Craig has already played an outsize role in shaping the Obama administration. He safely guided the transition team through a scandal in which the governor of Illinois sought to auction off President Obama's old Senate seat. He produced the four executive orders that defined Obama's opening act in office -- overturning Bush-era rules on detention of enemy combatants and torture -- and has crafted or is in the process of drafting as many as 35 other such documents on Obama's behalf. More on Bill Clinton
 
Don Ringe: So to Speak: A Pro-Choice GOP in California? Top
More on Bill Clinton
 
Pack Of Raccoons Invades White House Grounds Top
President Obama mocked the Washington area's Defcon 1 response to a few snowflakes last week. Let's see how the flinty Chicagoan does with the latest living-in-Washington challenge: critters. With permission from the Secret Service, the National Park Service has been in hot pursuit of a pack of raccoons spotted roaming the manicured grounds near the White House, a spokesman said.
 
Christina Raines, Drew Peterson's Ex-Fiancee, Testifies To Grand Jury Top
Less than a week after moving out of Drew Peterson's home, Christina Raines testified before a grand jury investigating the disappearance of his fourth wife and the death of his third.
 
Palin Reveals Daughter Named After ESPN Headquarters Top
It's a good thing ESPN didn't set up shop in Old Lyme. Former Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin disclosed this week that she named her daughter Bristol at least in part after the hometown of sports giant ESPN. Palin told Esquire magazine there were three meanings behind her eldest daughter's name. More on Sarah Palin
 
Romney: 'Obama Is Off To A Rocky Start' Top
... How do you think President Obama is doing so far? See pictures of how Presidents age in office. I think President Obama is off to a rocky start. The theme "Yes, we can" seems to have been replaced with "Well, maybe we can't." I believe that with all the challenges America faces, the simple solutions and the hope that were sold by the Obama team are inadequate to the task ahead. More on Mitt Romney
 
Paulson Misled TARP Oversight Committee, Says Watchdog Warren (VIDEO) Top
According to Elizabeth Warren, Chair of the TARP Congressional Oversight Panel, Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson misled their investigation. Here is part Warren's interview with CBS "Early Show" anchor Julie Chen this morning: Prof. WARREN: Well, they're trying to push money into banks and the question the oversight panel was asking is, `are you getting an equivalent amount back?' And so that's what this was about. Now there could be lots of policy reasons that Treasury might decide that it wanted this money to be in the banks. But our question is the one we put to Secretary Paulson, and that is, `are you putting it in and getting back assets that are worth equivalent value?' He told us yes; our independent investigation said no CHEN: So are you saying he was lying? Prof. WARREN: Well, I'm telling you he told us yes and our independent investigation said no. WATCH: More on Secretary Paulson
 
New RNC Chair Demands Entire Staff Resign Top
Politico reports that new Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele "has requested the resignations of the entire RNC staff and signaled a dramatic turnover at the party organization." The RNC has about 100 staffers; some will get their jobs back after a wholesale review of the institution. "You know, the chairman reserves the right to make decisions that reflect his vision and leadership," one resigning RNC staffer told The Hill . Still, the staffer added, "It is starting to feel like the Steele-your-job administration." "Steele promised significant organizational change which includes significant staff turnover at the RNC and he is going to deliver it," a source close to new RNC chair told the paper. Steele has said he wants his transition team to " take a fresh look at everything ."
 
Avigdor Lieberman, Hard Man Of The Right, Is Israel's Kingmaker In Waiting Top
Avigdor Lieberman, the far-right politician campaigning on a platform that Israeli Arabs should pledge loyalty to the state or lose their right to vote, has become the pivotal figure in next week's election after two polls showing his party has overtaken Labour. The Yisrael Beiteinu party headed by the Moldovan-born Mr Lieberman, who lives in a West Bank Jewish settlement and has been depicted by his critics as an Israeli version of Jean-Marie Le Pen or Jorg Haider, is in third place with a projected 19 or 17 seats in two newspaper polls yesterday. If the party did take that number of seats, it would mean it has performed well beyond its original base among immigrants from the former Soviet Union and is in pole position to emerge as the kingmaker determining whether Likud's Benjamin Netanyahu or Kadima's Tzipi Livni can best form the next coalition government. The leaders of all three main parties have left open the possibility of joining a coalition with Yisrael Beitenu, including Labour's Ehud Barak, who has provoked sharp internal dissent by refusing to rule out the possibility. The poll results underline the growing appeal of Mr Lieberman's hardline nationalist policies, which beside his "no loyalty, no citizenship" demand also includes a plan to redraw the country's borders to make more than 100,000 other Israeli Arabs citizens of the West Bank as part of a land "swap" in which Israel would annex the territory occupied by most West Bank settlements. Nowhere do Mr Lieberman's bitterly controversial proposals touch a rawer nerve than in the northern Arab hill city of Umm el Fahm, at the heart of the Wadi Ara triangle. At a stroke, residents would lose their status - and voting rights - as Israeli citizens. Said Abu Shakra, director of the town's well-known art gallery, and a long time promoter of co-existence between Jews and Arabs, said he now felt "depressed and frustrated" in the face of the ascendancy of Mr Lieberman, who once proposed the bombing of Egypt's Aswan Dam and suggested that Arab Knesset members who had talks with Hamas representatives should be executed. Mr Abu Shakra, who is proud that a Jewish Israeli architect, Amnon Bar On, has won an open competition to design the gallery's new premises, recalled that in 1998 Yoko Ono staged a successful exhibition in the town entitled Open Window - dedicated to the idea of inter-community dialogue. This spirit had been broken once by the outbreak of the second intifada, he said. "It took us eight years' work to build dialogue again and now it is being destroyed, this time by Lieberman." Seeing similarities in Mr Lieberman's rise to that of Hitler in pre-war Germany, Mr Abu Shakra added: "I have many Jewish friends who know that Lieberman is very destructive for all people, Jews as well as Arabs." Umm el Fahm's sense of becoming a target for the extreme right has been compounded by the provocative plans of Baruch Marzel, an extremist Hebron settler who has criticised Mr Lieberman for not being right wing enough. Mr Marzel intends to spend election day here as a teller at a polling station. Mr Abu Shakra warned: "My own view is that the best thing to do with [Mr Marzel] is to ignore him, but not everybody here thinks like me." Afo Agbaria, a local surgeon who is a candidate for the Communist joint Arab-Jewish Democratic Front - or Hadash - said that Mr Lieberman's success was a "danger not for Arabs only but for democracy in Israel", adding that history showed that "those fascists that got to the leadership got there by election". But Dr Agbaria insisted that the impact of Mr Lieberman would be to increase voting for the Arab parties - including his own, which he predicted would add a fourth seat in the Knesset. He said a campaign by the Islamic Party to boycott the election would be largely ignored. Evidence to support this was mixed in the town yesterday. Coffee shop owner Mohammed Jabarin, 50, said that while he would be voting for the Democratic Front and thought Knesset representation was important, public "depression and frustration" because of the war in Gaza and Mr Lieberman's rise would reduce the turnout. He said of the "loyalty" demand: "Arabs in Israel will be loyal when we get our rights." Repeating widespread complaints of anti-Arab discrimination, he added: "This means better job opportunities and rights to own land." Meanwhile, Farid Juma Agbaria, 63, was - unusually - more sanguine about Mr Lieberman. "He is shouting slogans now but he will stop when he gets to power," he said. Amal Mahajne, 38, said that, although she was not an Islamic Party member, she would boycott the poll. She said this was not really because of Mr Lieberman: "He may kill us but we are not afraid. We will not get out of our land", but because of Israel's invasion of Gaza. If Labour - led by Defence Minister Barak - "can do this when it pretends to believe in peace, what will the other parties do?" She said that whether she would vote in any subsequent election depended on how the Arab parties performed. Danny Ayalon, a former Israeli ambassador to Washington, has along with the former Likud MP Uzi Landau helped to lend Mr Lieberman an air of establishment respectability by joining his campaign. Mr Ayalon stopped short this week of saying that the "loyalty test" for Israeli Arabs - under which they would pledge allegiance to the Jewish state and agree to take part in civilian national service - was a precondition for joining other parties in a coalition. He said that it would be "very important" in any talks with potential partners after Tuesday's poll. He said the loyalty test was a "response" to the fundamental criticisms of Israel levelled over the past 20 to 25 years by "some in the Arab community, basically its leaders, who are the ones inciting the population". Avigdor Lieberman: In his own words "If it were up to me I would notify the Palestinian Authority that tomorrow at 10 in the morning we would bomb all their places of business in Ramallah." "World War Two ended with the Nuremberg trials. The heads of the Nazi regime, along with their collaborators, were executed. I hope this will be the fate of the collaborators in [the Knesset]." "We'll move the border. We won't have to pay for their unemployment, or health, or education. We won't have to subsidise them any longer." "When there is a contradiction between democratic and Jewish values, the Jewish and Zionist values are more important." "A real victory can be achieved only by breaking the will and motivation of Hamas to fight us, as was done to the Japanese in the last days of World War Two." Read more from the Independent. More on Israel
 
Nigeria: 84 Children Die From Teething Formula Top
The Federal Government on Thursday reported the deaths of 84 children between the ages of two months and seven years from the contaminated "My Pikin" teething mixture. It said that since the case broke in November 2008, the number of deaths had continued to rise just as the number of cases reported in hospitals had increased to 111. More on Africa
 
Earl Ofari Hutchinson: Etta's Pique at Obama Comes With The Turf Top
Soul singing icon Etta James has never been one to bite her tongue over a real or perceived insult. But Etta outdid herself this go round with her name call at a part of the president's anatomy (his ears), and then cavalierly blew him off with the he's not my president line. The really surprising thing about what otherwise would be laughed off as nothing more than the petulant loose lipped pique of an icon actually got some news legs. This has less to do with her insulting jibe at Obama then that a noted African-American, a legend if you will, would have the temerity to take a shot at Obama. Two weeks ago that would have been unthinkable. James of all people should if anything fall down on her knees and shout Hallelujah to Obama. The slow dance he and Michelle did to Etta's enshrined standard "at last" brought a warm glow to millions and much praise and adulation, and probably more jingles to cash registers for the CDs of the song. That fattened James's reputation and bank account. And there is no record that James objected to pop megastar Beyonce serenading Obama with her standard. In fact the report is that she applauded the song and the president and the first lady's dance duet to it at the Neighborhood Inaugural Ball on January 20. But that was two weeks ago. In that time Obama has suffered through the embarrassment of three tax cheating nominees, the prolonged legislative arm wrestle with Republicans to get his stimulus package through, and some low intensity carping and picking at his decision to keep Bush's Faith based initiative intact complete with the odious provision that essentially permit church groups that receive federal cash to discriminate against any and everyone but their own in hiring. The slight dull on Obama's glow was topped by a double digit drop in his popularity rating. This was inevitable. The honeymoon for all presidents, even historic presidents, doesn't last. The reality of governance and the hard knocks that come with it come with the White House turf. The sad thing about that is that some of the knocks and the ones who do the knocking can get personal, even ugly. James could have just as easily chided Obama for not inviting her to sing her trademark song, at the inauguration festivities, without the personal dig and then the blow off. But that wouldn't have made headlines, got the tongues wagging, and surprisingly gotten more than a few heads nodded in agreement with her. Obama wisely let it pass. A crack from a pop singer, even a legendary one, pales in importance to the titanic fight to rescue the economy, cut a deal with the Russians on its nukes, and figuring out the next move in Afghanistan. There simply will never be an at last to the verbal hits on whoever sits in the White House, no matter what the size of his or her ears. Earl Ofari Hutchinson is an author and political analyst. His new book is How Obama Won (Middle Passage Press, January 2009). http://www.learnhowobamawon.blogspot.com More on Barack Obama
 
Jennifer Aniston To Star In Artificial Insemination Comedy Top
Jennifer Aniston and Jason Bateman have signed on to star in the fertility-themed comedy "The Baster" for Mandate Pictures. Will Speck and Josh Gordon, who previously teamed for the comedy "Blades of Glory," will helm "The Baster" from a screenplay by Allan Loeb ("21"). Film is based on Jeffrey Eugenides' short story "Baster," which was first published in The New Yorker. "The Baster" centers on a neurotic and insecure man (Bateman) who finds out his best friend (Aniston) wants to have a child through artificial insemination. He surreptitiously replaces her donor's semen with his own and is then forced to live with the secret that he is the child's real father. More on Jennifer Aniston
 
Karen Salmansohn: The Map Out Of Doomsville Top
Losing a job isn't fun. But instead of wallowing in Doomsville, you must see it is an opportunity to take a new and better path -- a road of opportunity which will lead you to that career you've always wanted. Be honest with yourself! Did your ex-job pay your bills, yet empty your soul? Were you not earning a living - but earning an earning? If so, this treacherous economy might have served you up a big, fat opportunity-- to finally take that path towards doing what you love, making even more money and not be judged for trying. According to Jonathan Fields, author of Career Renegade: How To Make A Great Living Doing What You Love , "Promises have been broken on a scale we haven't seen since the Great Depression. If you lulled yourself into believing that a honking pile of money or a seemingly Teflon job was your ticket to security, you're likely smack in the middle of a really rude awakening." Fact is, everyone's worlds are being shaken and in this shaking lies opportunity--the chance to come alive. Fields shares these 7 critical actions to set in motion a more conscious career change: 1. Don't Freak Out - Remember, you may have left your job, but everything that's gotten you this far, your skills, abilities, knowledge, drive, work ethic and relationships, go with you. 2. Own up to your passion--We all know what we really want to do, we just don't know how to earn a living doing it, so we pretend we don't know. Time to step up and give it life. 3. Research your renegade path--Given the right tools, technology and information, now nearly any passion can be turned into a viable living, often from your kitchen table and at little expense or risk. 4. Speeducate yourself--It's never been easier to bone up on any body of knowledge or skillset in very little time, if you know where to look, both on and offline. And, often, it's even free. 5. Turn out your tribe--Tap the blogosphere and social media to showcase your mastery and your passion, build a personal brand and drive future clients, partners or employers to you. 6. Rally your rabbis--Present the case of a lifetime to rally the support of those closest to you and connect with mentors and "rabbis" who've done what you want to do. 7. Master your mind--Cultivate a daily mindset-enhancement practice to help manage stress and keep you focused, motivated and moving aggressively forward. *** Need a little psyche-ological boosting during this challenging time -- an emotional boost to push you forward? Check out THE BOUNCE BACK BOOK: HOW TO THRIVE IN THE FACE OF ADVERSITY, SETBACKS AND LOSSES. More on Happiness
 
Hale "Bonddad" Stewart: Why the Stimulus is Needed, Pt. II Top
I'm going to say this as simply as possible. There is a great deal of confusion out there about the stimulus. Let's clear it up. The United States Economy is Broken down into four sectors. Personal Consumption Expenditures, Gross Private Investment, Net Exports and Government Spending. The chart above represents personal consumption expenditures. The orange line shows the year over year change. Notice it has been decreasing since July 2007 and has been posting declines 7 of the last 8 months. Above is a graph of the percentage change from preceding quarters in personal consumption expenditures. It is inflation adjusted. Notice that for the last two quarters, personal consumption expenditures have decreased. Above is a chart for the percentage change real in gross private domestic investment from the preceding quarter. This number has been weak for 8 of the last 11 quarters. In other words, investment has been decreasing for some time. The US is a net importer. That means we don't have any exports. That leaves government spending to pull us out of the hole. It's that simple. Given the charts above in personal consumption expenditures and gross private domestic investment, what do you think the chances are of the consumer spending again (in the face of massive losses from the housing and stock market and with the massive increase in lay-offs over the last year) or business investing again? In other words, this isn't that complicated. More on Economy
 
Eli Davidson: Funky to Fabulous: Are You Bush Whacking Yourself? Top
Imagine a leader who jet-sets around the globe but blithely ignores the needs of his nation. He forgets to see that his people have good food to eat and that clean water to drink. He turns a deaf ear to the people's needs, because he is so busy hobnobbing with other leaders. How long do you suppose the local folks would put up with it? Don't you think they'd find a way to revolt? If you think this is merely a description of a former president or Wall Street CEO's guess again. It's the same inside of you. Bong Hit or Bush-Whacked? Being so busy that you disregard your own needs is a set-up for a bite in the backside (self sabotage) pretty much every time. It is arrogant to think that you can drive yourself to achieve unreasonable goals. Maybe you get sick on your vacation, or get lost and are late to an important meeting, blow the diet you've been doing so well on...or have a photo of your partying hits the internet. What might seem like sabotage is simply pleas for your attention from some part of you. The photo last week of Michael Phelps smoking pot was an illustration of these phenomena. A snapshot of Phelps daily schedule was: he woke up, trained, ate and slept -- for years. Who could live with that level of imbalance in his daily life? I believe that like you and I, even a world-class athlete needs to have a life. If that authentic balance is upset, there are consequences. Sponsors loved his squeaky clean image, and that bong hit may cost Phelps millions. He bush-whacked his bank account. In last weeks post many of your comments asked about how to turn off self-sabotage. LINK. In my coaching practice, I consistently see that executives have been so task oriented that they aren't listening to themselves or their clients effectively. Listening to your inner feedback system is one of the fastest ways to avoid making mistakes or setting objectives that are unrealistic. Hey, If You Won't Listen To Yourself Who Else Will? Listening to you is pretty darned easy, and it packs a whopping payoff. It's how you get the lowdown on what lifts you and what doesn't. It shifts taking good care of yourself and your organization from a little theory into specific choices and actions. You don't have to take just my word for it. Studies show that honoring your inherent knowing makes you feel cheerier. The International Journal of Aging and Human Development, for instance, recently reported that people who have a sense of autonomy and make decisions for themselves are three times more satisfied with their lives than those who don't. Turnaround Technique: How To Check In With Yourself Close your eyes. Observe your breathing. Now scan that glorious bod of yours. Become aware of your body sensations. How do your shoulders, neck, and stomach feel? Take an inner snapshot. Get a read of how you feel to use as a baseline. Next, bring to mind a situation about which you want some insight. Once you are seeing it clearly, let your body give you feedback. Flash. It's that fast. 1. How Do I Do More of What Works? What works for you? Ask yourself for a specific action that supports you. You know better than anyone else. Is it drinking more water, walking in nature, calling clients that haven't used you this year? Listen to your body. This can take under one minute to get the feedback 2. How Do I Less of What Doesn't Work? Let the rest of us, you probably know the answer to this. Ask yourself? Ask yourself for a specific action that stymies you. Is it time to get out of e-jail and not answer email until after lunch? Do you need to drink less coffee and more water? Do you need to say thank you to your team? What is yours? *** Are you ready to get out of the way and let your dreams have a say? Email Eli at info@elidavidson.com or go to www.elidavidson.com today. Eli Davidson is a nationally recognized executive coach and motivational speaker. Her book, "Funky to Fabulous: Surefire Success Stories for The Savvy, Sassy and Swamped", (Oak Grove Publishing) has won three national book awards. Eli is a reinvention catalyst, who can transform your professional and personal life from Funky to Fabulous with her ten, trademarked Turnaround Techniques that create rapid and remarkable results. More on Balanced Life
 
Jason Mannino: Choosing Optimism When Pessmism Would Be Easier Top
With the election of Barack Obama to the presidency, there has been a lot of talk about "change" and optimism. Some even think we have been hearing about it too much during a time in which many are experiencing significant crisis. Yet, while some have an easy time maintaining a generally optimistic outlook, others are asking, "What the hell is there to be optimistic about?" Personally, I feel that there is a lot to be optimistic about. For instance, we can be optimistic about the fact that we have a compassionate president who is willing to stand in the shoes of those who hold opposite points of view and willing to admit when he makes a mistake. When we are riding the 401-k roller coaster, experiencing the worst unemployment rate in 25 years and moving through the trials of a heinous economy, it can be an elusive experience. I encourage you to explore the role that holding a positive, optimistic point of view can play in your life even through these trying times. However, to do that, it takes a bold and courageous leap into acceptance for all things, good and bad, past and present. I can hear some of you thinking, "I can't take ownership for Wall Street screwing me over and losing my job," Of course, I'm not suggesting that you have caused all of the circumstances of your life, but rather that your experience of circumstances, therefore, your reality, is based on your response to these circumstances. How you react to any given situation is the result of an internal choice you make. Therefore, it is within your realm to accept and take ownership for your experience. When you take ownership you are empowered to make enlightened, conscious choices that can support you in focusing on the positive, and what is in your life for which you can be grateful. Victor Frankl was a Psychiatrist in Berlin, Germany who was a survivor of Auschwitz. It was during his time in Auschwitz that he made this discovery: "The one thing you can't take away from me is the way I choose to respond to what you do to me. The last of one's freedoms is to choose ones attitude in any given circumstance." In addition in Ben Sherwood's book The Survivor's Club: The Secrets and Science That Could Save Your Life , he provides a significant overview of research that illustrates that one's attitude and faith are essential to overcoming tragic, dire circumstances. One's outlook can play a key role in co-creation, the symbiotic relationship that forms when you allow spirit to be in the driver's seat of your life while simultaneously making informed, empowered choices. When you are powerfully co-creating you emit the high vibrations of love, bliss, joy, gratitude. This level is where the Law of Attraction (so famously demonstrated in The Secret) gets triggered powerfully and allows you to call forth new visions and desires for your life. Defined simply, The Law of Attraction is, "like attracts like, you get what you think about, and you get what you put your energy and focus on whether wanted or unwanted." Therefore, though it can be very challenging, it is critical to shift into an optimistic point of view. My mother died tragically following seven months of suffering and complications following an elective surgery -- an event that ranks among the most tragic circumstances of my life. I would not trade my mother for anything in the world, however, there are things I had to go through as a result of my mother's death that I am very grateful for. The experience offered deep personal transformation, learning and maturity. Accepting the circumstance inspired my willingness to go within and access the courage to experience gratitude; which continues to shine wisdom and insight into my life. Recently, I had a client who was laid off. Prior to the lay-off it became clear that she would be taking her career in a different direction than her job. At that time she enrolled in graduate school to pursue something completely different. However, although it was not her passion, she knew that it was not time to leave the job. Then the lay-off happened. When I asked her what the lesson might be that she was getting from this lay off she realized that it spirit's way of putting both of her feet on the path that she was choosing to walk. As a result, she was able to see this lay-off as an affirmation of her new direction. Although this circumstance did present her with challenges it became clear that it served her and this supported her in maintaining a positive perspective. I encourage you to do what it takes to shift your attention away from what is negative and place it on what it is positive in our life. If need be enlist help from your support network or a professional. Also, there are exercises you can engage in that will support you. Daily I write at least five things I am grateful for in a gratitude journal. I also acknowledge myself for something I am proud of or accomplished during the day. This exercise has helped me to keep my attention on the positive aspects of my life, particularly when in the moments that I have felt like things couldn't get any worse. Actually, when things can't get any worse, guess what? That's when they often start to get better. *** If you would like to learn more about shifting your perception from negative to positive e-mail info@jmannino.com for Jason's new complimentary e-book: Mind Your Mind; Manage Your Thoughts, Tips to Turn Your Mind Into Your Ally. Learn more about Jason and A.C.T.ion Centered Transformation at www.jmannino.com . More on Balanced Life
 
Martha Burk: Obama's Faith Based Office an Insult to Women Top
President Obama attended the annual National Prayer Breakfast yesterday and used the opportunity to tout the reconstitution and expansion of George W. Bush's Office on Faith Based Initiatives. In his remarks the president said he didn't want to favor one religion over another, or "even religious groups over secular groups." But in fact, that's just what he's doing. National women's organizations have been lobbying Obama, who has said he is a feminist, to reopen the White House Office on Women's Issues. So far the answer is a big fat no - women's concerns will be under the already swamped Office of Public Liaison. That's a tiny shop that's chronically understaffed and overstretched. Even with the best intentions, there's almost no chance they can interface with women's advocates in a meaningful way, much less shape policy to overcome the many setbacks we inherited from the Bush years. In a direct insult to women, George W. Bush closed the Clinton-era White House Office on Women's Issues in his first week, then ensconced the first-ever church/state liaison office in the same space. For our new president to "keep the faith" with religious groups while short-shrifting women is equally insulting. There is no doubt that women are responsible for his election. Females went for Obama by 56 percent to McCain's 43 percent, while men split their votes about evenly. The Jesus crowd, on the other hand, voted 60% against the president. The newly constituted "office for faith-based programs and community partnerships" will be headed by Joshua DuBois, a 26-year-old Pentecostal preacher and Obama confidant, who will preside over a task force of 25 or so religious and community leaders. This group will give DuBois advice, which will presumably be passed on to the president. To accord this advisory panel so much power, while relegating women to the margins, speaks volumes. Religious groups gained a lot from the Bush years - access to the White House, and millions of dollars in federal money, some of which was used to proselytize. And don't forget, almost all faiths consider women second class citizens; many actively campaign against affirmative action, the Women's Equality Amendment, the international human rights treaty for women known as CEDAW, and civil rights for gays and lesbians. Keeping this act going - even if it is broadened to include "community members" - is not the change women voted for. It's not too late for President Obama to change his mind and give the majority - women - a place at the table by re-opening the White House Office on Women's Issues. If he really does support women as he claims, restoring the losses of the last eight years on reproductive rights, enforcement of Title IX, Medicaid funding, and employment protections should be given a higher priority than keeping the religious right happy for what promises to be a very short honeymoon. Women's groups are elated that the Texans are finally out of the White House. But if the new president wants their continuing loyalty, he ought to follow some good ol' Texas advice: Dance with the one that brung ya. More on Religion
 
Steve Young: What Are Conservative Talkers Afraid Of? Top
The Right is back to their old tricks, as if they ever left them. Now it's not the Fairness Doctrine. It's the Censorship Doctrine. Instead of giving both sides fair access to the airwaves, it's taking it away from the Right. For the record, the Fairness Doctrine was a U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) policy that required the holders of broadcast licenses to present issues in a manner that was honest, equitable, and balanced. Not just say you're balanced. Actually be balanced. Calling the Fairness Doctrine "censorship" is as much a misnomer as calling Pro-choice groups "Pro-abortion." It's simply an attempt to demonize the opposition without the need for accuracy. The Fairness Doctrine doesn't tell a talker what he can say nor even mandates the need to tell the truth.. As with most of this self-serving branding it uses an Orwellian contortion to portray the issue as the opposite of the truth. If there is any voice that is being excluded, it is that of the Left. In some major cities, no major talk station uses a so-called liberal talk show host in their weekday lineup. The Right has always been artists for their capacity to frame the debate in terms that romanticizes their argument while criminalizing the opposition's. Bill O'Reilly who has READ THE REST OF THE FAIRNESS DETAILS HERE. Award-winning TV writer Steve Yoiung blogs at the appropriately-named SteveYoungonPolitics.com More on Fox News
 
Will Ferrell Opens On Broadway Top
NEW YORK — Already feeling masochistically nostalgic for the misadventures of the previous presidential administration? You can relive those eight years _ and more _ in "You're Welcome America. A Final Night With George W. Bush," Will Ferrell's merciless and often blisteringly funny raunch roast of the former chief executive who left the Oval Office less than three weeks ago. Ferrell wrote and stars as Bush in this 90-minute satiric biography, which opened Thursday at the Cort Theatre. The actor, a former "Saturday Night Live" regular and now a full-fledged movie star, seems totally at ease on a big Broadway stage. His initial entrance couldn't be more theatrically high-flying, but let's not spoil too much of the surprise. Once on stage, he struts and swaggers. His movements suggest a gunfighter at the OK Corral. So does his twangy sagebrush accent, which is right in line with Bush's reinvention of himself as a tried and true Texan _ who happened to have been born in Connecticut and then went to Yale University. Physically, the lanky actor is done up in a coifed mop of gray hair and for much of the time in a crisp white shirt and power tie _ that is until he dons a flight outfit for Bush's premature "Mission Accomplished" moment about the Iraq War. The evening's format is direct address. Ferrell talks right to the theater audience about the Bush family and then segues into the man's political career _ first as governor of Texas and then as president. The facts are not particularly revelatory, none that a reader of daily newspapers (and there must be few left) won't know. It's what Ferrell does with them that counts, taking off on wild riffs that produce giddy waves of laughter. No one escapes Ferrell's sharp, often naughty sense of humor, starting with members of the Bush clan. Fans of Bush's mother, Barbara, will not be too pleased with his steely description of the family's matriarch. Ferrell works his way through the ex-president's two terms with a photo display of all the man's cabinet members and some choice comments, particularly about Donald Rumsfeld. Of course, there's also a special shout-out to his vice president, Dick Cheney. And foreign leaders come in for a few jabs, too. "You're Welcome America" is not exactly a one-man show. There are several other performers including a breakdancing Secret Service agent, played by Ferrell's brother, Patrick, who, weirdly enough, is a John Belushi lookalike. Then there's a sexy Condoleezza Rice, portrayed by Pia Glenn who delivers what can only be described as a pole dance (without the pole) worthy of any high-priced "gentlemen's club." Director Adam McKay, a longtime Ferrell collaborator, never lets the jokes flag. Projections keep famous faces flying by as Bush talks about his two terms in office. Ferrell's interplay with the audience is sharp. Late in the evening, there's a segment where he asks theatergoers their names and their occupation. Then he comes up with nicknames, something Bush was fond of doing for his friends. As a thinker, Ferrell is a lot faster with a quip than the bumbler he is impersonating. But then he is in the business of entertainment. Now maybe we can put the Bush years behind us _ and Ferrell wants us to do it with a laugh. "You're Welcome America" is scheduled to run into mid-March and will be shown on HBO.
 
Steven Spielberg To Guest Edit Film Magazine Empire Top
Film director Steven Spielberg is set to guest edit the 20th anniversary issue of film magazine, Empire. Publisher Bauer Media announced today that staff including editor Mark Dinning will travel to Los Angeles later this month to work on the June issue of the magazine with the famous director. Bauer said Spielberg, a long-standing fan of the magazine, has already taken a hands-on role in commissioning the anniversary issue, working closely with staff on the edition, which goes on sale on April 23.
 
Pakistan Mosque Bomb Ignites Riots Top
Hundreds of people have set fire to a police station in Pakistan after at least 27 people were killed in a bomb blast near a Shia mosque in Punjab province. Maqsood Ahmed, a city police chief, said on Friday that the attackers were demanding the arrest of those behind the blast, which took place in the city of Dera Ghazi Khan. More on Pakistan
 
Nadya Suleman Speaks: Octuplet Mom On "Today" (VIDEO) Top
The first part of Ann Curry's sit down with octuplet mom Nadya Suleman aired Friday morning on "Today." Suleman told Curry, "All I wanted was children." She said she was implanted with six embryos with every IVF treatment, which had previously resulted in her six older children. Suleman thus believes two sets of twins are among the octuplets. The babies remain in the hospital. She blamed part of the scrutiny on her status as a single mom. She also said she has not and will not accept welfare and she's already been holding each of her babies. The babies will be seen for the first time on Monday's "Today" show. WATCH: Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News , World News , and News about the Economy More on Today Show
 
Climate Change May Encourage Invasive Species To Spread Top
SALT LAKE CITY — Climate change will likely shuffle some of the West's most troublesome invasive weeds, adding to the burden faced by farms and ranchers in some areas and providing opportunities for native plant restoration in others, according to a new study. In many cases, a warming climate will provide more welcoming conditions for invasive plants to get a foothold, spread quickly and crowd out native species, the study by Princeton University researchers said. But some invasives may retreat from millions of acres in the West _ at least briefly _ and offer an opportunity for land managers to re-establish native plants, the study said. The window for action, though, will probably be limited. "We're going to have to be in the right place at the right time before something else gains a foothold," said Bethany Bradley, a biogeographer at Princeton and lead author on the study. Nonnative weeds and plants followed in the footsteps, sometimes literally, of European settlers as they spread across the West. Even one of the West's most famous symbols _ the tumbling tumbleweed, also known as Russian thistle _ isn't from these parts. Its origins are in Russia. Today, nonnative plants across the West cost millions of dollars in damage to farms and ranches, alter the flow of water and function of ecosystems, provide fuels for fast-burning wildfires, and force government agencies to spend millions in response. "Every county that I know of in the West has got nonnative or invasive weeds in it," said Steve Dewey at Utah State University's extension office. "My advice to county weed departments is to give new invaders high priority, to stop them before they get out of hand." Bradley and two other Princeton scientists wanted to look at how changing climate conditions would effect the spread of weeds. They used 10 atmospheric models predicting how the West's climate will change by 2100. Then they compared predicted changes in precipitation and temperature with the most hospitable conditions for five of the West's most obnoxious noxious plants: cheatgrass, spotted knapweed, yellow starthistle, tamarisk and leafy spurge. The results were published in the latest edition of the scientific journal Global Change Biology. Cheatgrass, for instance, will likely retreat from strongholds in southern Nevada and Utah and make further inroads into Idaho, Montana and Wyoming. The wispy grass that dominates vast stretches of the Intermountain West, might struggle in some places with warmer temperatures and less water, the study said. Yellows starthistle may expand in California and Nevada as the climate changes while spotted knapweed moves toward higher elevations and spreads in Montana, Wyoming, Utah and Colorado, the study showed. Leafy spurge will probably fade from portions of Colorado, Nebraska, Iowa and Oregon. Tamarisk is likely to be unchanged. The models take into account many of the possible scenarios of a warming climate, but it's still difficult to predict changes at a local level. That's especially true for precipitation, including when it will fall and how much. "It's a big wildcard out there," Bradley said. "Even small changes in precipitation can have big impacts on invasive and native plants in the western U.S." And just because climate may drive out one invasive weed, it doesn't mean another won't quickly set up shop, she said. That's why it's important to find viable native plants _ even those that are only native regionally, not locally _ that can get established before the arrival of another invader, she said. "The question for policy makers and land managers is, 'What do we want these lands to be?' " David Wilcove, one of the researchers on the study, said in a statement. "These lands will change, and we must decide now _ before the window of opportunity closes _ whether we do nothing or whether we intervene." Models like those in the study should play a part in managing weeds in the West in the coming decades, said Dave Burch, Montana's weed coordinator and, until December, chairman of the Western Weed Coordinating Committee. In many cases, the predictions will help weed managers know which plants to be on the lookout for and prepare for their arrival. Reacting to weed infestations gets expensive. Montana, for instance, spends $21 million a year on fighting weeds and needs to be spending $58 million just to deal of 5 percent of the weeds it already has, Burch said. "Prevention is the cheapest way to go with weed control," Burch said. "Once you get something here, it's usually too late." ___ On the Net: http://www.weedcenter.org/wwcc/ More on Global Warming
 
Obama's Prime-Time Addresses Could Cost Networks Millions In Lost Ad Dollars Top
President Obama's desire to talk -- and talk, and talk -- to the American public could cost broadcast networks millions, and millions, and millions of prime-time TV dollars. Broadcasters are bracing themselves for the likelihood of three prime-time interruptions in three weeks, totaling at least three hours of prime time -- and ad breaks -- yanked. "His economic stimulus package apparently does not extend to the TV networks," one network exec noted More on President Obama
 
Abdul Qadeer Khan, Pakistan's "Father" Of Nuclear Bomb, Released From House Arrest Top
Abdul Qadeer Khan, the Pakistani nuclear scientist at the centre of the world's largest proliferation scandal, has been freed from five years of house arrest by a court in Islamabad. Khan, lionised as the "father" of Pakistan's atomic bomb, confessed in 2004 to selling nuclear secrets to Iran, North Korea and Libya. He was immediately pardoned but detained in his home. More on Pakistan
 

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